Systems thinking and efficiency under emissions constraints: addressing rebound effects in digital innovation and policy

Journal article

Innovations and efficiencies in digital technology have lately been depicted as paramount in the green transition to enable the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, both in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector and the wider economy. This, however, fails to adequately account for rebound effects that can offset emission savings, and in the worst-case, increase emissions. In this paper, we draw on a transdisciplinary workshop with 19 experts from carbon accounting, digital sustainability research, ethics, sociology, public policy, and sustainable business, to expose the challenges of addressing rebound effects in digital innovation processes and associated policy. We utilise a responsible innovation approach to uncover potential ways forward for incorporating rebound effects in these domains, concluding that addressing ICT-related rebound effects ultimately requires a shift from an ICT efficiency-centred perspective to a ‘systems thinking’ model, which aims to understand efficiency as one solution among others that requires constraints on emissions for ICT environmental savings to be realised.

Authors: Widdicks, K; Lucivero, F; Samuel, G; Somavilla, L; Ten Holter, C

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Cell Press
• Journal: Patterns
• Volume: 4
• Issue: 2
• Article number: 100679
• Publication date: 2023-02-10
• Acceptance date: 2022-12-13
• DOI: 10.1016/j.patter.2023.100679
• EISSN: 2666-3899
• Language: English
• Keywords: FFR